Could 'Achievement Amnesia' cost you your career?

The Employers

200 employers with sole or part responsibility for hiring new jobseekers were interviewed.

The researchers first asked employers what they thought were the most important things they look for when reviewing a possible candidate's CV. The top three responses showed that employers rated work experience, work based achievements and the list of the jobseekers' previous jobs and positions as the most important parts of the CV. Work based achievements were defined as specific accomplishments that could be attributed to the candidate, rather than generic responsibilities.

The research then went on to ask the employers about previous roles and achievements in more detail. Specifically, the researchers wanted to know whether employers had rejected jobseekers as a result of this information being omitted. The results were conclusive, showing that a staggering 73% of employers had rejected a candidate based on the lack of roles and achievements on their CV. The reasons why jobseekers make the error and fail to include sufficient detail are explored separately in the jobseeker survey.

The employers were also asked to quantify the impact of including work-based achievements in terms of the salary they would offer jobseekers. They were given four choices of varying pay increase percentages to choose from. Over half said that they would offer a salary 5% higher or more to jobseekers that showed significant work-based achievements on their CV, and just over quarter said they would offer a salary of 15% or higher. With the average UK salary being £22,000, this enabled a monetary value to be placed on the ability to include specific work-based achievements.